College is a Next Step by Daniel

College is a Next Step by Daniel - April 2020 Scholarship Essay

From the start of my educational career, college was almost a given next step in my big life plans, but I never asked myself why I want to attend college. These were my thoughts when I started high school, but after some new life experiences, new people I have met over the years, and a new, mature outlook towards life, I found my answer. College is important because it establishes the first steps of independence towards the adult world, giving people like me the skills, experiences, and friends to make it in life.

In college, the academics give students the advanced skills needed to be successful. To me, I see college as a place not only to learn new things, but also to polish off what I already started learning back in high school. In my case, I want to go into engineering, so I am taking engineering pathway high school courses as part of the engineering program. By starting to see the engineering world early by taking high school courses related to engineering, in college I can use that experience to get something tenable: a degree. College officiates what I started learning by giving me a degree to then apply to jobs with. Without attending college, I would have all the knowledge that I absorbed in high school, but nowhere to apply it. Simply put, I think high schools are designed for preparing students to enter college, so without actually attending college, I wouldn't be receiving the full deal.

Going hand-to-hand with skills, experiences are an important part of college that I would not want to miss out on. When I talk to adults about their college experiences, their stories are mostly about the shenanigans they came across and the people they met, not really about the riveting three-hour lectures. In fact, this little euphemism was what really altered my view towards college. Rather than dreading the fact that college is four, or even more, years of schooling, I started to look forward to the new life away from mom and dad. Even though that independent adult life experience is not without its drawbacks, college creates an environment where one can make mistakes and falter, but within a relatively controlled environment where my life doesn't suddenly shatter into pieces. In other words, the college environment is just right for personal growth. And to me, that personal growth is part of why college is essential in life.

Wherever one goes, one is bound to meet new people, maybe potential friends. What better place to find new people than in college? But college has more to it than in elementary school because these people are usually the ones to be at their most mature, emotionally developed, and steady levels. High school friends that last past graduation are rare, from what I can tell. In fact, my dad really keeps in contact with his friends whom he met in college. As far as I can tell, I think that most of my high school friends will not stick around forever, unfortunately. So for me, college is the one place to find lasting friends that can stick with me even after graduation.

For whatever major I go into. I still will believe that attending college is a necessary step to get into the world. I wouldn't have spent so many years in school dutifully preparing for it had I not believed so.